I met a woman on assistance who was struggling to feed her two dogs, so we stepped in and have provided her with food and treats for both and will continue to do so as long as she needs it. She is a good owner, and loves them both dearly.

Ask your vet about microchipping. ~ It could have saved Kuhio's life. And it cost Halo hers.Ask your vet about Polycystic kidney disease ~~ Rest in peace WillyLoved by Lisa

PORTLAND, OR (KPTV) - A local mom is producing a line of T-shirts inspired by her little boy and his glasses.

Jessica Butler said her son Scott was born with a congenital cataract, and required surgery when he was just 4 weeks old. Since then, glasses and eye patches have been a part of his everyday life.

And so have the questions from strangers. Many people ask whether the toddler's glasses are even real.

"With an infant in glasses, you get asked that every time you leave the house," Jessica Butler said. "People always think that they're just toys or fake, but they aren't, they're really prescription glasses."

It's all inspired a line of T-shirts and a company called Eye Power Kid's Wear. The goal is to make people of all ages, but especially children, feel good about their glasses. One of the most popular shirts says, "My glasses give me superpowers."

That particular shirt can even be ordered with a detachable cape.

Butler launched a Kickstarter.com page in May hoping to raise $3,000 to get the project off the ground. She ended up with nearly $5,000 in donations to launch her business.

She's hoping this project will inspire others, especially families who have to go through the patching process of a child with an eye disorder.

There's even a shirt for that. It says, "Will patch for cake," because sometimes you have to bribe children with a sweet treat to keep the patch on, Butler said.

"It's really hard some days," she said. "They cry and they fight it. Some days you go through five or six patches, so it's just kind of inspiring people to not give up."

For more information, go to eyepowerkidswear.com.

Ask your vet about microchipping. ~ It could have saved Kuhio's life. And it cost Halo hers.Ask your vet about Polycystic kidney disease ~~ Rest in peace WillyLoved by Lisa

The owners of Blue Marble ice cream shops, in Brooklyn, New York, are expanding their business to Butare, Rwanda. Alexis Miesen and Jennie Dundas are building their first store there, which will be run (and co-owned) by Rwandan women.

Ask your vet about microchipping. ~ It could have saved Kuhio's life. And it cost Halo hers.Ask your vet about Polycystic kidney disease ~~ Rest in peace WillyLoved by Lisa

Last June 13 was a brilliant Sunday in South Florida, and Claudia Cox, in the backseat of a friend's Mitsubishi, was going from Miami to Naples to visit her boyfriend Otasha Barrett with their year-old twin daughters, Kendia and Kenisha, strapped into car seats beside her. Heading west through the Everglades on 1-75, Cox, 23, a hospital lab assistant, was singing gospel tunes with her cousin Simone Hyatt, who was sitting in front with driver Tashana Brown. But just after 3 p.m. a front tire blew, and the car crashed through a fence, flipping over and landing upside down in an alligator-infested canal. "All I could think was 'I'm going to die,' " says Cox. "Then I thought, 'Please, God, don't let anything happen to my babies.' "

The answer to her prayers was Guy Burnett, who had been just minutes behind Cox, driving with his wife and two children. Burnett pulled over and saw that all three women were out of the car, but that Cox was standing in the water screaming, "My babies!" Then a serviceman for a security firm, Burnett dove into the murky canal and tried vainly to open the car doors. "It was like pea soup," he recalls. "I wouldn't have seen my hand if I'd held it in front of my face." Finally, finding an open window, he unlocked a door and freed Kenisha from her car seat and brought her to safety. That's when he heard Cox screaming, "There's two of them!" Diving back in, he found Kendia and brought her to the surface. But it seemed too late. "She was like a rag doll," Burnett says. Cox's friend Brown, a flight attendant with first aid training, began administering CPR. Then Burnett, who learned the technique as a lifeguard in high school, took over. "C'mon, baby, breathe!" he exhorted. After a couple of minutes, Kendia whimpered. "That progressed to a good cry," he says. "It was like music to my ears."

Ask your vet about microchipping. ~ It could have saved Kuhio's life. And it cost Halo hers.Ask your vet about Polycystic kidney disease ~~ Rest in peace WillyLoved by Lisa

An AWOL cockatiel is watched over from above until he turns himself in.

By Kim, Schenectady, New York

"Rocko! Get back here!” I heard Dad calling to our one-year-old cockatiel from the front porch. Dad whistled the special high-pitched tune he used to communicate with him. Normally Rocko whistled the song right back. Not this time. Rocko must have flown the coop! I thought, running to the porch.

I went into the yard and spied Rocko in a neighbor’s tree. Dad and I followed him from tree to tree, whistling. “He’s probably afraid it’s not us,” Dad said. Eventually we lost sight of Rocko’s gray and white feathers.

After driving around the neighborhood late into the night, we had to accept that Rocko was gone. I hoped angels flew with him, keeping him safe.

A week later a neighbor surprised us. “I just saw Rocko on the news,” she said. “During a segment on the police academy, he landed on a recruit’s hat!”

We raced over to the police academy. When we arrived Dad whistled his special song. Rocko perked his head up and whistled right back. What safer place for angels to have led him?

Ask your vet about microchipping. ~ It could have saved Kuhio's life. And it cost Halo hers.Ask your vet about Polycystic kidney disease ~~ Rest in peace WillyLoved by Lisa

Giving back never looked so good. This necklace from Falling Whistles is the perfect conversation piece for awareness. It comes in different metals, so you can add it to any outfit -- becoming a whistle blower for peace.

One hundred percent of proceeds go toward helping war-affected kids in the Democratic Republic of Congo through rehabilitation programs and stateside advocacy.

Buy it now at store.fallingwhistles.com, $34

Ask your vet about microchipping. ~ It could have saved Kuhio's life. And it cost Halo hers.Ask your vet about Polycystic kidney disease ~~ Rest in peace WillyLoved by Lisa

Tampa, Florida -- A mother will do most anything for her child and one Tampa woman proves that by getting her head shaved! But there's much more to Jasmine Barrios' buzz cut. She's making a difference for kids across the country, as well as her own son.

Her son Nester has been diagnosed with cancer. "Nester is 8. When he was 7, he was diagnosed with thyroid cancer," says Barrios. "Thyroid cancer in kids is not very common. There's a one in a million chance for a child in his group to get thyroid cancer, therefore the awareness for it isn't there."

On average, 46 mothers each weekday learn their child has cancer. Barrios is part of the group "46 Mommas," a group that raises money for childhood cancer research. That's also how she ended up with her new hairdo. She traveled to San Antonio to take part in the 'Shave for the Brave' fundraiser.

"It's fun, it's liberating. You feel free and I'm glad I did it and I'm glad I am one of the 46 mommas," said Barrios.

Nester is doing well and Barrios said he wants to be a soldier like his dad, "He wears the uniform proudly and he wears it correctly so he shows the Army pride. I told him he already is a soldier, he's just a soldier fighting cancer."

Barrios has raised several hundred dollars already this year for childhood cancer research and knows there is much more to be done.

"I feel like we could at least tell our story and let people know there are kids out there who are fighting. We're fortunate that so far Nester is doing phenomenal, but there are kids out there who are losing their battles and that's why we fight."

Collectively "46 Mommas" IS making a difference -- raising more than million dollars over the last three years.

Ask your vet about microchipping. ~ It could have saved Kuhio's life. And it cost Halo hers.Ask your vet about Polycystic kidney disease ~~ Rest in peace WillyLoved by Lisa

Bus driver who caught plunging Brooklyn child brushes off 'hero' talk
A veteran New York City bus driver on Tuesday played down any claims of heroism for snagging a 7-year-old girl who fell three stories from a Brooklyn apartment building a day earlier.

Steve St. Bernard, 52, says neighborhood children alerted him to the girl standing on top of a window air-conditioning unit, and he positioned himself underneath her.

St. Bernard said the girl was up above him for an excruciating seven minutes before she fell into his arms.

The incident occurred Monday afternoon and was captured on amateur video, which soon surfaced online. It shows the girl, who neighbors said is a special-needs child, standing and apparently dancing on the air-conditioner, losing her balance and falling. One of at least two people standing on the sidewalk beneath her reaches out and catches her before she hits the ground.

"It felt like a ton of bricks ... like a whole bag of rocks on me," St. Bernard said. "We went down. She touched the floor but the impact wasn't on her. It was me and her going down. I guess I absorbed the blow."

Bernard and the girl were treated at a local hospital and released. Bernard hurt his arm and is now wearing a sling and can't go to work.

Neighbors and onlookers have since hailed the bus driver as a hero while police investigate the incident, authorities said.

The child apparently was able to get onto an exterior air-conditioning unit because the window guards were too small for the opening, said New York City Housing Authority spokeswoman Sheila Stainback. There are now child-proof bars in place and the air conditioner unit has been removed from the window.

The girl's mother told CNN affiliate WCBS that she thought her daughter was asleep and blamed the incident on the air conditioner, which she said was installed just a few days ago and was defective.

Deborah Reed, a witness who alerted the girl's mother that her child was standing on the air conditioner, was emotional about the whole ordeal.

"I am just so thankful that everything turned out well -- I really am," she said.

But most grateful was the girl's mother, who hugged and thanked St. Bernard on Tuesday.

Still, the bus driver is brushing aside the "hero" label.

"If you have kids or you love people, like me, it's something you jump into action real quickly," he said.

Ask your vet about microchipping. ~ It could have saved Kuhio's life. And it cost Halo hers.Ask your vet about Polycystic kidney disease ~~ Rest in peace WillyLoved by Lisa

CONCORD, NC (WBTV) - Barbee Farms in Concord only harvests about two-thirds of their crops. Farmers typically will only harvest what they can sell, leaving thousands of pounds of perfectly edible food out in the fields. That food might go to waste if it weren't for groups like The Society of Saint Andrew.

The group organizes volunteers to come and pick the second harvest or "glean" the fields. Last year they took more than 50,000 pounds of food and donated it to food banks and shelters.

"Usually food that's in the field in the morning is on somebody's plate by the night," said Jean Siers, the area coordinator for the agency.

Thursday morning, students from Charlotte's Freedom School were the volunteers picking and loading corn into bushel sacks. Despite the mud and wet conditions, the kids were able to pick more than 1,000 pounds of corn.

Siers says the food comes at no cost to them and is a great way to turn what would go to waste, into usable food for the hungry.

Farmers like Tommy Barbee say it's a win-win because they don't have to see food go un-used. "Nothing does me any more good than to see that crowd leave with food to be distributed among the community, said Barbee.

The Society of Saint Andrew is constantly looking for volunteers to glean area farms and transport the food to local agencies. For more information check out their website at http://www.endhunger.org/

Ask your vet about microchipping. ~ It could have saved Kuhio's life. And it cost Halo hers.Ask your vet about Polycystic kidney disease ~~ Rest in peace WillyLoved by Lisa

This little guy was discharged from the hospital today. He's truly a miracle kid.

Originally Posted by kuhio98

All involved agree, sand dune rescue 'a miracle'

CHICAGO (AP) — One minute, 6-year-old Nathan Woessner was scampering up a massive dune in northern Indiana with his dad and a friend. He was gone the next, without a warning or sound.

More than three hours later, rescuers pulled Nathan out from under 11 feet of sand on Friday. He showed no signs of life: He was cold to the touch, had no pulse and wasn't breathing. His limp body was put into the back of a pickup truck, which started toward a waiting ambulance.

The plan was to take him to the hospital rather than the coroner's office, even if he was dead, in order to "give the family and rescue workers hope," La Porte (Ind.) County Chief Deputy Coroner Mark Huffman said Monday.

As the truck bounced over the dune, a medic noticed something astonishing: The boy took a breath. Then, the cut on his head started bleeding. The jolt apparently shocked Nathan's body back to life, Huffman said. Nathan was rushed to the hospital and was crying in the emergency room when Huffman arrived a few minutes later.

"Man, I tell you that was such a great feeling," Huffman said. "This is not something that I as the chief deputy coroner get to report that often. It's an absolute miracle this child survived."

Nathan, of Sterling, Ill., remains in critical condition at the University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children's Hospital, but he is expected to recover and be released in 10 to 14 days, Dr. Tracy Koogler said Monday. Of greatest concern is his lungs, as the amount of sand he breathed in could lead to asthma-like symptoms, she said.

Don Reul, Nathan's grandfather, was getting ready for bed after a long day of tooling around on motorcycles in New York state with his wife and another couple when the phone rang. On the other end was the "hysterical" voice of his daughter, Faith Woessner.

In this July 12, 2013 file photo, Michigan City police and firefighters dig with shovels to r …"She said, 'Dad, Dad, we can't find him, he's under the sand," said Reul, a minister from Galva, Ill.

But he understood little else, and by the time he hung up, he believed that his grandson had fallen on the beach at Indiana Dunes National Seashore and had been pulled into Lake Michigan.

"I said Nathan has died, he's drowned," Reul told his wife.

The Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, running for about 25 miles along the southern shore of Lake Michigan, is a popular vacation spot that has long attracted families, hikers and birdwatchers. The dune Nathan fell feet-first into is one of the tallest, the 123-foot-tall Mount Baldy.

Nathan's 8-year-old friend rushed to where his dad and Nathan's dad were, and told them Nathan had vanished. Reul said that by the time Nathan's father found the hole, he could hear his son, but not see him.

The two men frantically dug sand from the spot where Nathan had fallen, but stopped after it was about four feet deep, Reul said, realizing they may have driven Nathan "deeper and deeper." Faith Woessner, meanwhile, was begging people to help them dig.

Michigan City, Ind., firefighters soon arrived and excavating companies brought backhoes and other heavy equipment to try to catch up with the boy, who was still sinking into the sand. According to media reports, the first responders pushed a rod down into the sand in the hopes of finding the boy.

In this July 12, 2013, photo rescue workers with heavy equipment working to free 6-year-old Nathan W …Hours passed without a sign of Nathan. Huffman, the coroner arrived, which Reul said must have been a sure sign that the rescuers feared the worst: It wouldn't be a rescue.

Then, volunteer firefighter Ryan Miller, the vice president of an excavating company, spotted the outline of what looked like a rotten tree about 11 feet down — maybe more — and pushed the rod until it stopped at the boy. Michigan City firefighter Brad Kreighbaum reached down and "felt what he believed to be Nathan's head," Miller said.

It was just in time, as there was no air pocket surrounding Nathan.

"He was fully encapsulated in sand," Miller said, noting it took about five firefighters to pull him out.

Once the family heard the boy was bleeding, Reul said, "Hope began to bubble up... that Nathan's not gone."

He was airlifted to the University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children's Hospital from an Indiana hospital Friday night.

"I expected him to arrive much sicker than he did," said Koogler, medical director of the pediatric intensive care unit.

In this July 12, 2013, photo rescue workers with a stretcher carrying 6-year-old Nathan Woessner aft …Nathan was sedated so doctors could remove as much of the sand in his lungs as possible. She said Monday doctors don't see any more sand particles, but believe some is still in there.

Doctors also said early neurological tests didn't reveal any brain damage; Nathan can move his arms, legs, fingers and toes. Koogler also said Nathan's eyes appear to be fine, adding he must have had closed them while buried in the sand.

She said the biggest concern remains the boy's lungs, telling reporters Monday that Nathan could develop asthma-like symptoms in the months to come, but that the injury to his lungs was "not nearly as severe as I expected it to be."

Koogler said if Nathan continues to recover at the same rate, he would likely be taken off the ventilator by the end of the week and released from the hospital in 10-14 days, but may need another month in a rehab facility.

In six months, she said, 'I'm hoping that he's going to be acting like a normal 6- to 7-year-old, riding a bicycle, doing what a normal 6- or 7-year-old does."

Reul said that before he and his wife heard anything about his grandson, he experienced sharp, stabbing pains in his chest. Reul was not ready to say Monday that those pains happened at approximately the time his grandson fell into the sinkhole.

But he was sure of what happened after: "It is a miracle."

I've been Boo'd... right off the stage!

Aaahh, I have been defrosted! Thank you, Bonny and Asiel!
Brrrr, I've been Frosted! Thank you, Asiel and Pomtzu!

"That's the power of kittens (and puppies too, of course): They can reduce us to quivering masses of Jell-O in about two seconds flat and make us like it. Good thing they don't have opposable thumbs or they'd surely have taken over the world by now." -- Paul Lukas

NFL Rookie Rescues Woman and Her Three Kids while Driving to Training Camp
JULY 26, 2013
Ryan Gorman, Daily Mail
An NFL rookie is being called a hero after pulling a family to safety from a burning car Tuesday. Jonathan ‘Tig’ Willard, an undrafted free agent rookie with the Tennessee Titans, and another man pulled a mother, her three children and their dog from their car as it burned on the side of a Tennessee highway Tuesday while driving to Titans training camp. ‘They’re my angels, they’re a Godsend, it was a miracle that they were there,’ Cheri Hubbard told Good Morning America.

I've been Boo'd... right off the stage!

Aaahh, I have been defrosted! Thank you, Bonny and Asiel!
Brrrr, I've been Frosted! Thank you, Asiel and Pomtzu!

"That's the power of kittens (and puppies too, of course): They can reduce us to quivering masses of Jell-O in about two seconds flat and make us like it. Good thing they don't have opposable thumbs or they'd surely have taken over the world by now." -- Paul Lukas

GENESEE COUNTY, MI (WNEM) - A Genesee County woman is counting her blessings after she lost her wedding ring in a waterfall – only to have it returned by an upstanding citizen.

"And I go, ‘you're kidding me, oh my God no, you're kidding me'," said LeLonnie Alexander on the moment she was reunited with her wedding ring.

She lost it during a vacation in northern Michigan while at a waterfall, and figured it was gone for good. "I slipped and fell down into the water and I'm waving my hands back and forth … and all of a sudden the ring flies off and I said, ‘I lost my ring.'"

After a long search in the water, Alexander lost all hope of finding it. She notified the campground area police department and posted about her lost ring on social media. Several days later, she received a phone call.

"I got a call and they asked me to describe my ring because they thought somebody had found it," said Alexander.

A boy all the way from Nashville, TN, heard about what had happened. When his family visited the waterfall while on vacation, he decided to search for the ring himself.

"He heard about the story and went into the water with his little snorkel and his mask," explained Alexander.

And he found the $4,000 ring.

This week his family returned it to Alexander. She says she can't thank the boy enough for his honesty. "I get goose bumps because that little boy deserves every bit of praise that he can get," gushed Alexander.

Now the ring holder says she's doing whatever she can to make sure she doesn't lose her ring ever again. "This baby's getting insured and resized," said Alexander.

Alexander did give the boy a $200 reward for returning her ring.

Ask your vet about microchipping. ~ It could have saved Kuhio's life. And it cost Halo hers.Ask your vet about Polycystic kidney disease ~~ Rest in peace WillyLoved by Lisa